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Sunday, April 13, 2008

‘Sorry Raj, can’t give you Maratha’

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray is eager to start a party mouthpiece. Some party workers have suggested him to brand it Maratha.

But with the owner of Maratha, which was a leading newspaper when Sanuykta Maharashtra agitation was at its peak in the 1950s, not willing to sell the title, MNS might not have its wish fulfilled.

Thackeray has told party workers that the mouthpiece would soon be a reality. He also announced a magazine, dedicated to cartoons. An MNS source said, “We are trying to obtain the title Maratha for the mouthpiece. The ti-tle is per- fect for our party’s stand on Marathi people.”

However, Shirish Pai, the owner of Maratha, has refused to part with the title. “The title is the memory of Acharya Atre (her father). The issues raised by Raj Thackeray are important. But I believe that Maratha belonged to Atre only. I will not give it to anybody,” she told DNA.

“Some people from Pune and Kolhapur came to me for the title. I told them I would not give,” Pai said. She suggested that Thackeray could opt for the title Nav Maratha.